Cytovance® Biologics, a leading full-service contract manufacturer ("CMO") of mammalian and microbial biologics, welcomes Maria Lopez as the Vice President of Quality.

"With over 15 years of experience in the biopharm industry, Maria brings a depth of experience in medical device and biologics manufacturing," said Darren Head, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cytovance Biologics. "We are very fortunate to have such a well-seasoned and experienced executive join our team. Maria's knowledge and leadership skills will be tremendous assets to the Company."

Prior to Cytovance, Ms. Lopez served as the Site Quality Head at Novartis. In this capacity, she was responsible for all Quality functions at the manufacturing facility and for the continuous improvement of the site Quality System.

Before Novartis, Ms. Lopez held the position of Director of Quality and Manager of Quality Assurance at Immucor, Inc. Some of her duties in this role included leading the implementation of a Quality System to ensure compliance with domestic and international regulatory agencies and lead the site in remediation of compliance related issues. Plus, she was responsible for hiring and directing 50 employees in six Quality departments.

During her tenure in Quality, she has been site lead for numerous FDA, ISO, and Corporate inspections.

Previous to Immucor, Ms. Lopez was a Scientist with Valentis, Inc., a non-viral gene therapy development and manufacturing facility. Ms. Lopez holds a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Texas A&I University in Kingsville.

"Bill Minshall, our most recent Senior Vice President of Quality Systems, has assumed a new role as Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs," Mr. Head stated. "His focus will be to coordinate, prepare and manage Cytovance and client regulatory submissions to ensure timely approvals."

About Cytovance® Biologics

Cytovance® Biologics is a biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing company specializing in the production of therapeutic proteins and antibodies from both mammalian cell culture and microbial fermentation. In addition to its cGMP manufacturing services, the company offers process development, cGMP cell banking and support services from its Oklahoma City state-of-the-art facilities.